Countryside Coop Opens the Durand Agronomy Facility

Countryside Coop needed a new plant on the banks of the Chippewa River in Durand, WI. They chose Waconia Manufacturing to provide the receiving and blending equipment.

The Durand Agronomy Facility was ready to go March 10th, 2016

“We were happy with the towers at other locations. In the past WMI has been very reliable and permitted very few challenges”, said Mike Christianson, the Agronomy Division Supervisor for Countryside Coop. He explained why they decided to go with Waconia Manufacturing. This isn’t the Coop’s first facility featuring Waconia Manufacturing. Every one of their locations has Waconia Manufacturing receiving or blending equipment installed. “And it’s local,” he added.

Countryside Coop’s has a 12-16 week period every year that they run their equipment hot and heavy, they needed top-notch quality to limit down time. According to Mike Christianson, they do “95% of business April through July. Unfortunately the equipment mostly sits the rest of the year.” The Coop needed conveyors and blenders that could sit for a while with little maintenance, and fire up when it’s needed.

Once Wachtler Construction finished the install, Our Field Service Team helped with start up. “Gary’s a good guy to work with,” said Joe Bauer the Durand Location Manager for Countryside Coop. Gary Stender and Ed Laumann are the Field Service Team for WMI. “The WMI crew is quick to respond,” Mike Christianson added. On March 10th, 2016 the receiving equipment roared to life. It was a smooth startup and waiting for a truck of urea to show up remained the only delay. After a few small adjustments to the tripper conveyor and the receiving leg, product ran through the plant smoothly. In fact, all equipment was delivered by December 31st, a full two weeks before scheduled. WMI’s superiority in engineering, and project management ensured a smooth timeline.

The 250 ton blend tower while under construction in Durand, WI

“We tried some off brand equipment at one time but it didn’t work,” said Joe Bauer. He added that over all, they’ve been “very happy” with the Waconia Manufacturing equipment.

Project Team:

Sales: Rob Henderson

Project Manager: Kimberly Johnson

Engineering Lead: Eric Janzen

Featured Equipment:

250 TPH receiving system

250 TPH reclaim system

250 Ton blend tower

The Durand Facility features a 276 foot TRI2400 conveyor equipped with a tripper

Countryside Coop has so much confidence in Waconia Manufacturing they ordered equipment for their new Osseo, WI facility before the Durand facility was completed. The Osseo facility will be operational for the 2017 spring season.